where every day is an adventure

Home Made Sauerkraut

The recipe I followed was incredibly easy and said that it would be good in 24 hours. So after the time passed I tried it and it was very salty. It didn’t taste like sauerkraut, and it didn’t taste bad, it just tasted like very salty cabbage, I was sure I screwed it up.

My worry sent me to Dr. Google and I googled the shit out of home made sauerkraut. (Further research is something I would suggest doing before trying a recipe that involves science such as fermentation.) I made the decision to remove some of the brine and add water to thin out the saltiness. I read that over salting can slow the fermentation process.

After watering it down a bit I left it alone. Over the course of a week I watched it, as it bubbled, and fermented. I will admit I was concerned that I had a rotting mess of cabbage on my counter top. However after a week I tasted it, and I was very pleased that not only was it good, but it was delicious! For the last couple days I have been eating it on everything.

I googled lots of stuff, smelly sauerkraut when I thought it was smelling funny, floating saurkraut when I noticed the cabbage was floating up to the top, all kinds of stuff.

Also I think it’s important to mention, through this whole process I was pretty convinced that I had messed up and it would be terrible, but I kept going and didn’t abandon my kraut. I am very happy I held out because it turned out wonderful.

If you like sauerkraut, even a little, I highly recommend trying your hand at making your own. It really was very easy, and it can last for months.
You could easily do a smaller batch, I used a large head of cabbage, about 3 pounds and I ended up with about 50 oz or so of sauerkraut.